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arranged for installation of a bank of photovoltaic panels on the the Gallery Place and Capitol Riverfront areas, respectively. Audi
roof of the management offices at the south side of the facility. This Field is following in these footsteps for Buzzard Point, as is the
won’t count toward the LEED rating, since it was added after the most recently-opened D.C. pro sports facility, the Entertainment
LEED process was under way, but it shows that Major League and Sports Arena at the St. Elizabeth’s East Campus. Teams and
Soccer is striving to be a responsible corporate citizen. This will be city officials, it seems, have learned that their separate agendas can
important as Buzzard Point redevelops. Already, partly as a result both be achieved through cooperation. But process only takes a
of Audi Field, there are three major projects under construction that project so far. Success is dependent upon the architects and urban
will collectively bring over 1,000 new apartments to the area, plus planners resolving the seemingly unresolvable, making lemonade
a considerable amount of street-level (and in many cases, water- from the lemons presented by the site, program, and other
facing) retail and restaurants. More are in the works, including a sometimes unpredictable constraints. This clearly happened,
177-unit, all-affordable apartment project and potentially a hotel. repeatedly, in the process that created Audi Field.
Populous states on its website that Audi Field “is a case study
on how our design process doesn’t stop where our project’s
boundaries end.” Washington can already boast of two major
sports facilities—Capital One Arena and Nationals Park—which
catalyzed immense private investment and substantially revitalized
GOAL! 39